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A Good Woman is Hard to Find

UK 2019

Director: Abner Pastoll

Starring: Sarah Bolger, Edward Hogg, Andrew Simpson, Jane Brennan

A struggling single mother finds herself drawn into the criminal underworld against her will, but it may hold the answer to her most burning question.

Living on a run-down council estate in Northern Ireland a single mother struggles with her two children, her money troubles and her strained relationship with her mother as she mourns her murdered husband and copes with her son, rendered mute by that trauma. By chance a local criminal storms into her life and uses her flat to hide his stolen drugs, stolen from the local head of organised crime. As the racketeers hunt for their missing drugs and the man who stole them she is drawn inexorably into danger. Perhaps, however, these criminals can help her understand why her husband was killed and why the police are so reluctant to investigate.

As a film this is social realism with some highly convincing violence and enough shock value to keep any gore-hound amused, but that's not really the point. The film is at heart a gangster movie and a proper one. In Britain we've been subjected to endless waves of dire crime movies, filled with stereotype, stupidity and senselessness. It's too easy to blame Guy Ritchie for that, but what the hell, it's all his fault. There was a time when a British crime movie had a plot that made sense and was properly grounded in the culture of the place and time is was set, it lived in its world. It inhaled the environment and exhaled authenticity with every breath. Eventually someone had to come along and make another one like that and it turns out it was Abner Pastoll, director of the cult 'Road Games'.

It's hard to think of anything that could make this better. The story is wonderful, the characters superb, the performances delightful and the pace, rhythm and transformative finale are so satisfying it just delivers on every level. Bolger delivers a central performance that has to be compelling, so critical is her part, but it isn't just compelling, it might be the best performance I've seen in years. This isn't just the best British Gangster movie of the year, it's the best British movie of the year, maybe for several years and it's the best crime movie, of any type, since the original 'Get Carter'. Breathtaking.

Rabid (2019)

Canada 2019

Director: Jen & Sylvia Soska

Starring: Laura Vandervoort, Greg Bryk, Stephen McHattie, Ted Atherton

A disfigured woman tries an experimental treatment with some wide-reaching side-effects.

A put upon and downtrodden assistant in the fashion industry has an accident that leaves her horribly maimed. She's offered the chance to be part of an experimental stem-cell treatment and, feeling she has nothing to lose, she accepts. The consequences of this decision are extremely disturbing and dangerous, and not just for her. The city is dealing with an outbreak of a new strain of highly virulent rabies and the authorities are searching for their Typhoid Mary. This is, of course, a remake. The Cronenberg original is one of the classics of body horror and any fan of his work would sit down to watch this with more than a little trepidation. If there is, anywhere, a worthy successor to the Cronenberg legacy, however, it surely lies in the creative minds of fellow Canadians the Soska sisters, who brought us 'American Mary'. This is better looking than the original and more developed in its exploration of the themes and scientific imagination of the story. This is also a more morally viable tale, more sympathetic and, because of that, more fightening. It's all too plausible and all too easy to forsee now in a way that it seemed like far-fetched science fiction when the original released.

So much of the core of the tale, and all of its moral ambiguity, rests on the shoulders of Vandervoort and she delivers a performance that meets the needs of the role amply. I haven't seen her deliver a brave performance before this and I find I want to see much more of her stretched this far. In fact all of the cast does extremely well here. The ending is quite different from the original and, for me, better. It offers one last chance to deliver a sense of creeping helpless dread before the credits roll. This film isn't just a remake of the original 'Rabid', though, it's a cinematic love-letter to the entire Cronenberg back catalogue. There are dozens of references to his most iconic scenes, shots and moments throughout. It seems this isn't just made to honour the original, it's made to honour the man.

Satanic Panic

USA 2019

Director: Chelsea Stardust

Starring: Hayley Griffith, Jordan Ladd, Ruby Modine, Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O'Connell

A pizza delivery girl finds herself battling a group of satanists in pursuit of a fair tip.

Short of money, desperate for work, sexually harrassed and taken advantage of, young Sam starts her first night delivering pizza. She takes a delivery out of the usual catchment area to a wealthy suburb where the creepy man who answers the door doesn't give her a tip. Determined to right this wrong she walks into the house and into the middle of a satanic ritual. In fact it's a group of bickering satanists who are not having a great night either. You see they are lacking the required virgin to sacrifice to their demon de jour. Sam, coincidentally, might just fit the bill. There follows a funny, sexy romp through the classic cultist tropes with a splendid Griffith as our charismatic guide. The younger cast deliver just the right balance of deadpan, action and fear while the more experienced talent hams gloriously and revels in the silliness.

We're seeing a lot of stories that deal with social status these days as the world becomes more divided and while this can definitely be included it's the most entertaining and funny way to comment on such real issues. Just a note that the title does not refer in any way to the actual 'satanic panic' that gripped the more easily confused members of society a few decades back, it's just a title.

Ready or Not

USA 2019

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Starring: Samara Weaving, Andie Macdowell, Mark O'Brien, Adam Brody

A bride marries into a wealthy family but her wedding night is not going to go well.

Marrying into a fabulously wealthy family at their huge estate a bride learns of a tradition that happens whenever a new person joins the family. As the family made its money from games she has to play a game at midnight. It seems this game is chosen by an occult machine that was passed to the founder of the dynasty by a creepy investor in exchange for their fabulous success. Whatever game comes out of the machine must be played, it could be chess, it could be bridge, but occasionally it's hide-and-seek. When that game pops out of the machine the rules are a little different. The new member of the family must be hunted through the house by the family and she must be caught and killed before dawn.

Our heroine is not the roll-over-and-die type so cue a gloriously violent, gory, comic slaughter-fest through the dark estate with plenty of death and, if you'll forgive the pun, mayhem. All the time we are wondering whether the rules are actually a pact with the devil or just a stupid and pointless tradition followed by an archaic and cruel branch of the one per cent. Every part of this is utterly satisfying, from the violence to the splatter, to the humour and especially the performances. Weaving does her best work yet in this quirky and dark tale of good and evil, which has one of the best last lines in any movie, ever.

Daniel isn't Real

USA 2019

Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer

Starring: Miles Robbins, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sasha Lane, Mary Stewart Masterson

A boy's imaginary friend returns when he's at university and he's not exactly a good influence.

A young boy makes an imaginary friend called Daniel. Unsurprisingly Daniel gets the blame for all sorts of misbehaviour but when, one day, he convinces the boy to give his mother an overdose he's banished by the boy. Years later the boy is at university and returning home to look in on his vulnerable and mentally ill mother from time to time. Daniel returns to his side and begins to offer constructive advise to help him navigiate the social world with more confisence. This, however, is not Daniel's real motive and as time goes on it becomes clear he is looking for a future he desires at any cost. The most impressive thing here is the production quality. It's a good tale and very well told. In the version I saw at FrightFest the third act could use a fair amount of trimming and it does become a bit surreal and unconvincing towards the end, lacking the race to the line that would have given it a more compelling punch. Despite this the setup is strong, creepy, darkly comic and tense.

There's a slight sense of 'Dead Ringers' to this one as the story develops and the two young men develop a relationship with one of them very much in charge.

Spiral (2019)

Canada 2019

Director: Kurtis David Harder

Starring: Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, Lochlyn Munro, Ari Cohen, Chandra West

A gay couple with a teenage daughter move from Chicago to the suburbs looking for a better environment to raise the girl but find anything but safety and comfort.

When a gay couple move into the suburbs in the mid 90s in search of a better environment to raise their teenager they begin to learn that their neighbours are less than neighbourly. It's a solid supernatural thriller with echoes of 'Wicker Man' in the ritual and isolated strangeness blended with a little of 'Get Out' as social commentary. The building tension is well handled, the developing distrust and conflict in the family is effective and believable, with one character reluctant to be seen as oversensitive because of his victimised past. The couple is convincing and the daughter not too sulky, which would have been too easy a trap. The ending is powerful and the tension maintains throughout.

There's no doubt the whole film is socially aware but there's an underlying message about fear and societal division that emerges more slowly and is all the more impactful for it.

The Drone

USA 2019

Director: Jordan Rubin

Starring: Alex Essoe, John Brotherton, Christopher Matthew Cook, Rex Linn

A couple find and use a drone, not knowing that it is possessed by a serial rapist and murderer.

A serial rapist and murderer manages to transfer his consciousness into the drone he used to select and hunt his victims. The drone, now sentient, finds a young couple in their new home and is adopted by them to hilarious effect. Seriously, this is a new entry in the 'object possessed by evil' sub-genre where we can find 'Child's Play' and 'Christine', but this movie has much more in common with 'The Mangler Reborn'. It is knowingly silly, fun and filled with genre references from 'Peeping Tom' to 'Psycho'. For a genre crowd this plays as pure comedy gold, as the charming and charismatic cast revel in the fun.

When looking at things like this you need actors who can be simultaneously conveying humour and truth, otherwise it descends into self absorbed farce and while the plot is, frankly, very silly, it is treated with exactly the right amount of seriousness by the entire cast. The last time Alex Essoe turned up in a genre film where she carried the lead it was 'Starry Eyes' and this couldn't be a more different challenge, yet she manages to be confident, vulnerable, sexy, winsome, charming and funny all at the same time. You may not like comedy horror, some people see it as an affront, but if you do, pop this one on your shelf next to 'Shaun' and 'Beth'.

Feedback

Spain / USA 2019

Director: Pedro C Alonso

Starring: Eddie Marsan, Paul Anderson, Ivana Baquero, Richard Brake

Armed thugs take over a radio studio and force the programme host to follow their instructions.

An original tale and a different take on the hostage trope. When a group of armed and violent people take control of a radio studio they threaten to kill the people in the control booth if the host doesn't follow their instructions exactly. Most of the tale is concerned with finding out what they really want and why but over time we begin to learn more about the individual intruders and their relationships, ammunition that can be used against them. By any standards this is a brutal film but it's also a compelling and relevant story covering the seductions of fame and the price it brings along with the use and abuse of power in all its forms. Aside from the fine script and the fine acting, Marsan has never been better, the wonderful studio set is a character in its own right, the lights, glass partitions, sound-proofing and sound deadening brings the location to life and is a very strong influence on the plot.

The ending is deliberately ambiguous and quite menacing, but this is a fine thriller and feels tight and claustrophobic.

Mary

USA 2019

Director: Michael Goi

Starring: Gary Oldman, Emily Mortimer, Stefanie Scott, Jennifer Esposito

A family buys a cursed ketch to run as a fishing charter, but this boat has a long and unpleasant history.

Told essentially in flashback this is the tale of a family fighting to survive their rash purchase of a cursed ketch. The boat has been the doom of previous owners and passengers so on their shakedown cruise they face the same horrors. It's fair to say there isn't all that much here that's new. An experienced genre fan could predict most of what comes and the various foreshadowing attempts actually give too much away and follow a very predictable course. Ironically the boat does the same thing. Having said all that there are plenty of saving graces. The boat itself is wonderful. It's got character and enough inherent creepiness to set the plot well into the scene. The biggest advantage, however, is the truly splendid cast. All of the headliners are excellent as you'd expect and Stefanie Scott, no stranger to horror stories, is comfortable keeping pace with the more established names.

Ultimately the film delivers exactly what you expect and with very few surprises, but it is a thoroughly polished and crafted tale. A good story well told will always bring plenty of satisfaction even if originality is hard to discern.

Cut Off

Germany 2018

Director: Christian Alvart

Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Lars Eidinger, Fahri Yardim

A forensic pathologist follows a gory treasure hunt to find his missing daughter.

A police pathologist finds a capsule in the mutilated skull of a murder victim. In it is the name of his daughter. There follows a dark and complex thriller as he follows clues in and on the bodies of other victims to identify the killer and rescue his missing child. On the island of Heligoland, cut off by storms, a young woman is seeking refuge from an abusive and dangerous boyfriend. It is there that the next body is to be found and, having found it, she reluctantly joins forces with the pathologist to follow the clues.

The plot is intricate and complex, the backstory compelling, but it is the wonderful interplay between the two leads and the growing sense of urgency that realls makes this special. So many moments are exceptional but the woman carrying out her first autopsy in a creepy storm-ravaged abandoned hospital while being told what to do over the phone by the desperate pathologist is a real highlight. While I felt the end was a little too contrived it was so rewarding to uncover the twists of the tale and the taut script and outstanding performances make this a special experience. Alvart is probably best known in the UK for 'Case 39' and 'Pandorum' but seasoned horror fans will look fondly back on 'Antikorper (Antibodies)' as well. He really brings a consistent sensibility to this puzzle of a story.

Dark Encounter

UK 2019

Director: Carl Strathie

Starring: Laura Fraser, Mel Raido, Vincent Regan, Alice Lowe

An alien encounter on the anniversary of a child's disappearance might explain what happened to the girl.

A year ago a family lost their teenage daughter, she simply vanished. Now they assemble for a memorial service on the assumption she has died. That night there are strange lights, sounds, power-cuts and all the rest of the 'third kind'. Overall the movie delivers on its promise, especially held together by the excellent Fraser. Ultimately the end feels a little toothless and more than a little predictable, as the clues have been rather obviously played out, but it holds the interest well and feels very much like the director got the movie he wanted.

When we finally see the aliens they are a fine piece of work in terms of design and feel very removed from human experience, a genuine positive.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

USA / Canada 2019

Director: Andre Ovredal

Starring: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Austin Zajur, Dean Norris

An ill advised tempting of a local urban legend leads to an anthology of horrors unleashed on a group of teens.

The books on which this film is based are well known in the US, but not in the UK. A group of teenagers looking for an adventure on halloween enter the local haunted house. In it, allegedly, the spirit of a girl can be called upon to tell scary stories. Of course those stories aren't just told, they're experienced. Pursued into the house by a bully out for revenge all of the trespassers begin to experience personally-tailored horrors. It's not the most gruesome or the most bloody, it is more scare than tear, but there is a menace in the way the house is shot and the linked stories that pursue them from it are also very well handled. Clever devices like the way the book of scary stories begins to write new ones as each transgressor meets their fate add to the sense of expectation and the film is a joy to watch.

Everything here is good, most of it excellent. The mainly young cast is great, especially Colletti, the effects are solid and real and advice on physical effects was sought from EP Guillermo del Toro who clearly knows a lot about making physical monsters. Described as a good entry to the horror genre I agree completely. It's watchable by teenagers while still offering enough interest for the most hardened genre fan. Excellent film.

Crawl

USA 2019

Director: Alexandre Aja

Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Ross Anderson, Anson Boon

Trapped in rising flood waters in a house filled with alligators a woman fights to rescue her injured father after a hurricane.

A student and swimming star is unable to contact her father as his home comes under a storm warning. Ignoring advice to stay away she goes to him and, finding him injured, gets trapped with him as the floods rise. The nearby alligator farm has been flooded and there are some very nasty reptiles about. If you're expecting something other than a creature feature then you must be new here. The alligators actually make excellent meancing threats, the setting is compelling and the performances and effects are wonderful. Ultimately this and the excellent 'Rogue' are the two Crocodilian movies that should be in your collection and this film is like the third act of Rogue extended over a full feature.

One thing worth noting is the fine camera work, especially once you learn that the alligators were entirely CG creations, they sure seem solid enough on screen. Scodelario also deserves special mention here, she is very much the heart of the film, leading practically every scene and shot and she delivers some fine work. Crawl also generates more genuine jumps than any other recent effort, not just Lewton Buses but jumps for reasons.

Kindred Spirits

USA 2019

Director: Lucky McKee

Starring: Thora Birch, Caitlin Stacy, Macon Blair, Sasha Frolova

The prodigal sister returns to the family home but she's not the fun-loving free spirit of their memories.

Sadie returns to stay with her sister and teenage niece after a year of absence. She has been missed and is welcomed back, partly because she's the fun aunt, life and soul of the party, but also because she wants to get back to a place from which to make a new start. Of course, things aren't all that they seem. Superficially she is the gregarious and adventurous person she was but there is something dark and manipulative in her and her expectations of her new start will lead to pretty horrific consequences.

The plot may be routine and, even, rather on the nose, but there's enough tension to keep you watching and the core cast, especially Birch and Stacy are really strong and believable. Ultimately it's a good watch and a well measured take on the 'sociopath next door' trope.

Eat Brains Love

USA 2019

Director: Rodman Flender

Starring: Jake Cannavale, Angeliques Rivera, Sarah Yarkin, Alex Stage

Two teens catch the zombie virus through unprotected sex and, pursued by the government, go on a coming of age road trip.

An ordinary teenager finds himself partnered with the captain of the cheerleading squad as both flee their home town to avoid being slaughtered by a secret government agency. They have contracted a virus that turns them into 'Necrotics', well, zombies to you and me. A somewhat novel take on the zombie movie is actually more interesting than the description, the movie has a deep moral centre as the teens debate which humans qualify as dinner, show genuine character development and developing maturity. This is most evident in the development of a third teen, a psychic working with the pursuing agents. In this film she finds more than a shred of sympathy for her quarry, finds a strong bond with her paramilitary escort and ultimately our three teens find that zombies aren't the most sickening thing out there.

There's a healthy dose of humour and gore alongside the core tale and the developing love triangle definitely moves this effort into the rom-zom-com territory.

Climax

France 2018

Director: Gaspar Noe

Starring: Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile, Giselle Palmer

Improvised chaos as a dance troupe drinks spiked sangria and descends into a jolting orgy of sex and violence.

Shot in narrative sequence, improvised by the cast with minimal steering from Noe, this is a drug-fuelled trip through insanity where the colours and lively movement of dance meets the psychological darkness of the Milgram experiment. Shocking, inventive, compelling to watch with artistic camera work, an amazing sount-track and the deft lightness of touch the marks Noe's work. Definitely not for everyone, it is often ambiguous, disorienting and uncomfortable but as a cinematic experience it is one to be prized, as much for its originality as its quality.

The Golem

USA 2018

Director: Doran Paz, Yoan Paz

Starring: Hani Furstenberg, Ishai Golan, Brynie Furstenberg, Lenny Ravic, Alex Tritenko

A woman raises a Golem to defend her village but controlling a monster may take more emotional detachment than she can muster.

Not really a horror film, though one with elements of horror. This is really a social parable of loss, blame, anger and vengeance with a little sprinkling of love. The production is exquisite and the performances are perfect but the music, more than anything else, deserves a special mention for its beauty and clarity, it is painted in emotional sound like a dystopian ballet. Hani Furstenberg delivers a career-best performance as a woman shunned, ignored, undervalued and driven to desperate acts for her community, her husband and her very sanity. The golem she raises, however, is nothing like the one a vengeful man might create and this drives an emotional and achingly painful journey. What manner of monster is raised by a grieving woman, not a vengeful man?

The Dark

Austria 2018

Director: Justin P Lange

Starring: Nadia Alexander, Toby Nichols, Karl Markovics, Margarete Tiesel, Dylan Trowbridge

A sickening abuser hides in the woods with his blinded victim only to fall prey to a ghoul.

This may be one of the most original films I've ever seen. It's 'Memento' original. A horror film in the classic mould but told backwards and from the opposite side as we follow the monster as she becomes less monster, losing the traits that allowed her to prevail over the villain, who is dealt with at the beginning not the end. Her character undevelops her skills while facing increasingly benign opposition for reducing stakes until we are spat out at the end in act 1. Nothing I can say here will prepare you for how refreshing and revelatory this film is. It's the perfect example of how, if you really understand how to write a perfectly structured screenplay, you can do everything wrong and therefore perfectly. One of the most interesting films I've ever seen.

Open 24 Hours

USA 2018

Director: Padraig Reynolds

Starring: Vanessa Grasse, Brendan Fletcher, Cole Vigue, Emily Tennant, Daniel O'Meara

A woman with a dark past and recently released from prison finds a job working the night shift in a petrol station convenience store. Haunted by visions of her past she doesn't know whether she's hallucinating when frightening events happen around her.

The location is fantastic and the casting is great, with everyone doing a fine job. As an excuse for not calling for help as soon as something scary happens, her fear of being taken back into custody if she reveals her mental state is a novel and excellent one. Towards the end the payoff is a little weak and it slips into absolute cliche eventually but the majority of the film is gripping and the atmosphere is always interesting.

Anna and the Apocalypse

UK 2017

Director: John McPhail

Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Mark Benton, Paul Kaye

Zombie Apocalypse the musical as a group of teens take on the end of the world with a series of catchy song and dance numbers.

Musicals are not usually my thing but this, which is an actual musical where people sing about their feelings and everything, kept me grinning throughout. It's violent, funny, engaging and sometimes in relentlessly poor taste and though the plot begins to veer into disorder as the film progresses it retains enough coherence to make the ride a very enjoyable one. The cast is mainly good and if anything the children are a little let down by the overenthusiastic hamming of the adults. Lean back and SingAlongApocalypse.

There is a grossly inappropriate sexual-innuendo-laden song performed at a school talent show that may be one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a film.